Brenton Grove to make Carrera Cup debut

Brenton Grove will join his father Steven on the grid for the Carrera Cup rounds at Sandown and the Gold Coast.

Grove will take up the Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport seat filled earlier this year by German Lars Kern.

The 20-year-old currently sits second in the second-tier GT3 Cup Challenge, which wraps up next weekend at Phillip Island.

“I look forward to my Carrera Cup debut at Sandown,” said Grove, who has been his father’s Grove Racing team manager since 2012.

“I feel like this has been a long time coming as I’ve attended Carrera Cup events since Dad started racing in the series.

“The opportunity to race with Porsche Centre Melbourne became available recently and I jumped at the chance.

“Porsche Centre Melbourne has won more Carrera Cup titles than any other team and, having been around the Carrera Cup traps for a few seasons, I know how well the Porsche Centre Melbourne team operates so it’s a privilege to now become part of it.”

The ride will not only pit Grove against his father in terms of individual drivers, but also given that Grove Racing is a customer of DNA Racing.

“We have competed together in the same car on a few occasions, including at the Bathurst Motor Festival and Island Magic events, so I think we’re both looking forward to the chance of being on the track at the same time.

“We haven’t yet discussed what will happen if we actually do come up against each other on track.”

While Indiran and Duvashen Padayachee drove together at the Phillip Island Pro-Am round in 2015, Brenton Grove’s call-up represents the first time father and son have raced against each other in the championship.

Kern, meanwhile, is expected to reprise return to the seat for the penultimate round of the season at Bathurst.